I’ve had several conversations with farmers in Montana and Nebraska.  Though there aren’t any locust plagues in the U.S. anymore, large grasshopper “swarms” are not so uncommon in the Western states.  I’ve been told that in some areas, grasshopper harvests of 100 pounds per hour are possible.  We are currently seeking capital and other resources that would allow us to best to make use of a huge amount of grasshoppers.

Grasshoppers have been highly appreciated in many cultures.  The Aztecs considered grasshoppers "the flowers of the gods" and they’re still quite popular in Mexico. The owner of a Mexican restaurant in Providence told me that if I secured a supply of grasshoppers he would put them on the menu. This is an exciting prospect, and might attract the attention of that specific restaurant industry. I am also interested in processing the grasshoppers into insect flour for high-protein baked goods. Such products could become a model for a new paradigm in locust-related famine response.

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